Friends and Enemies
by Florida's Firefly
Summary: Finaly updated! Let’s go back to Oakey Oaks in the fall of ’96. It’s Chicken Little’s firstever day of school and he’s a bit nervous. This is the story of how wellknown friendships were made and how rivalries were established. Chap. 2 is up!
1. First Day of School

Yep, it's HERE!

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_Chapter 1: First Day of School_

Nine years before the whole 'sky is falling' ordeal ever happened, Buck Cluck was a strapping young cock that lived a good life with his wife and son. They meant the whole world to him and he was unaware of the things the next decade would bring to the little family.

One November night, there was a big storm over Oakey Oaks that lasted for a good two hours or so. It was letting up a little bit as Buck was driving home from work that night, but there was still a decent rain shower still pouring and the thunder was rumbling quietly. Buck picked up his cell phone and dialed in to home.

Chloe laid on her bed watching TV when the phone rang. She picked it up and put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, honey."

Chloe smiled. "Hi, you headed home?"

"Well, in the process of it. Rain's still a little heavy, but I should be home in a few minutes."

"All right."

"What are you up to?"

"Watching the news," Chloe smiled and glanced down at her small son at only four years old, fast asleep next to her. "And your son has just occupied your side of the bed, sir."

Buck smiled. "The storm was too much for him?"

His wife laughed a little. "He pretty much came running. You want me to move him back into his room?"

"Nah," Buck said, "he might wake up before I get there. I'll move him back to his bed later."

"Okay…" Chloe smiled. "I'll see you in a bit."

"Bye, hon."

Chloe hung the phone back up and looked over at her son. She reached out and gently fingered through the soft feathers atop his head. It would be a few years before he started showing signs of growing a red comb like his father's. His feathers would also probably fade from the very soft yellowish color they were now and into a bright white.

It was the fall of '96, and the time had finally come for Chicken Little's first-ever day of preschool. It would be a lie to say that the little guy wasn't scared. I mean, c'mon, give the kid a break. They were actually getting him in a little later in the fall because he was so terrified at first. He was smaller than most of the kids his age, and he was aware of it. That was the one thing that worried Buck and Chloe. With him being so small, he was likely to be teased about it. The fact that he also recently had to start wearing eyeglasses wasn't bound to help either. What's more is that they knew their son was a kid that would make a stand for himself against any bully, despite how big they were compared to him. They had told him to make sure and be within his teacher's sight, just in case. In case of what, Chicken Little didn't quite understand.

As they were driving towards the school that next morning, Buck looked up at his overhead mirror from his driver seat. He could see his small son in the back seat, staring anxiously at the floor. Buck then looked at Chloe, who was seated in the passenger seat next to him. She had also noticed him looking distraught and she turned partially around in her seat.

"Aw, don't be scared, sweetie." she said gently. "You're gonna have lot's of fun at school. You know, your teacher Ms. Dinah and I grew up together. She's gonna take good care of you."

Chicken Little slid down in his seat. "Yeah, but…school sounds too scary, Mama…" he mumbled.

"It seems scary at first…" Chloe reasoned. "But everything will get better once you've found a friend."

"What if I don't _find_ a friend?" her son looked up at her. "Nobody will like me there 'cause I'm a loser…"

"What?" Buck looked at him. "Who told you that?"

"Spike from next door told me."

"Aw c'mon, buddy, he's a rhino. His head comes to a point, literally!"

"_Buck_." Chloe snapped in a whisper.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'!" Buck defended himself.

"Show some _regard_ around the 4 year-old, please?" She smirked. "You know you have a way with your words sometimes"

"Well, that's why you married me, isn't it?"

Chloe chuckled and leaned over to her husband, kissing him on the cheek.

"Eww…" Chicken Little made a face. "Dad! Mom! That's gross!"

"Heh, you say that now, but just you wait." Buck smiled. "One day you're gonna find a girl and you won't be able to take your eyes off of her."

"Aw, who needs girls?" Chicken Little waved his dad's remark off. "All they ever care about is _girl_ stuff."

His parents only smiled and glanced at each other thoughtfully.

They arrived at the school within a window of a few more minutes. Chicken Little looked up at the big building with a fenced-in playground placed neatly on its right side. Buck parked the car in the front lot. "Okay, buddy," he smiled back at his son. "We're here."

Chicken Little glanced down at the car seat. He let out an uneasy sigh, unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed the brown paper lunch bag that was beside him.

Buck opened the back door and his young son very carefully climbed out onto the ground. Chloe held out a hand and Chicken Little quickly grasped it. Buck closed up the car and the family headed towards the preschool building.

Chicken Little looked over into the nearby playground and saw a bunch of other kids his age playing and running around, but there was a noticeably odd fanaticism about some of the puppies chasing after two of the kittens. Chicken Little and his parents stepped into the building and found themselves in a classroom.

At the sight of an adult female Dalmatian dog in a purple outfit waiting for them at the other end of the room, Chicken Little edged closer to his mom.

"Hey, Chloe." the Dalmatian smiled and walked towards her friend. They embraced.

"Hi, Dinah." Chloe smiled.

Chicken Little didn't let go of his mom's skirt for one second as he stared up and watched her and the Dalmatian greet each other.

After a moment, Chloe pulled away from Dinah and all three adults looked down at him. Chloe laid her hand on top of her chick's head. "This is our son, Chicken Little."

Still nervous, Chicken Little slipped behind his mom and barely peeked out at the Dalmatian with his hand still clutched onto Chloe's skirt.

Chloe leaned down towards her son. "…This is your teacher, Ms. Dinah." She motioned with her head for him to come out. "C'mon, come say hello." She took her hand and gently nudged him forward. "C'mon," she coaxed gently.

Although hesitant at first, Chicken Little very shyly edged out from behind his mother and in front of Miss Dinah. She knelt down to the floor to get closer to his level. Chicken Little looked at her. She smiled at him, and he slightly smiled back politely but nervously.

"Your mom's told me so much about you, Chicken Little." his teacher told him. "We're going to have lots of fun here until your mom and dad come back, right?"

Chicken Little only nodded slightly. He gave another small smile at his teacher, and then looked up at his mother as she knelt down next to him to say goodbye.

But Chicken Little was not ready for her to leave. He rushed into her arms and partly hid his face in her shirt. "…Do I gotta stay?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, c'mon, sweetheart…" Chloe said gently. "You're gonna love it here, I promise. And you can tell us all about it when we come back."

"Will you come back soon?"

Chloe smiled. "Of course we will."

"Really soon? Like really, _really_ soon?"

His mom chuckled and they hugged each other. "We'll be back before you know it, all right?"

Chicken Little sighed to himself and glanced at the ground. He nodded after a moment.

"There's my boy." Chloe smiled. "You be good for Ms. Dinah, okay?" she kissed him on the forehead. "We'll come get you this afternoon."

Chicken Little still didn't want his mom to go, but he knew he had to take this new place on and show his parents how brave he could be.

"See ya, kiddo." Buck smiled and gently ruffled his son's head feathers. He walked back to his wife, whose face seemed to beam proudly as she looked back at her son. "We love you." she called back.

The little chick waved. "Bye, Dad! Bye, Mommy!" he called, trying his best to sound brave. He stared after his parents until the last of his dad's tail disappeared through the doorway.

After they were gone, Ms. Dinah looked down at Chicken Little, and he eventually looked up at her.

She held out her paw to the young chick. "…Ready to go outside?"

Chicken Little stood with his hands clenched together nervously and glanced from her face to her outreached paw. He still wasn't exactly and completely comfortable with this new teacher of his. But, she _did_ seem like she could've been kinda nice…and his mom _had_ told him she was.

Finally, gathering up all the bravery he could, he put his tiny hand into Ms. Dinah's and he let her guide him outside to the playground.

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Here are some ideal voices for the characters introduced:

Pre-K Chicken Little - Dylan Denton (youngest Rodney in _Robots_)

Chloe - Carolyn Hennesy (Bambi's mother in _Bambi 2_)

Ms. Dinah - Cree Summers (best known for Kida in _Atlantis: The Lost Empire_)


	2. On the Playground

_Chapter 2: The Playground_

Outside, the yard seemed so big to a youngster as small as Chicken Little. He looked around at what seemed to him miles of activity.

He looked up at Ms. Dinah, who smiled at him and motioned with her head to go ahead and explore. The little chicken looked back out onto the playground and sighed to himself. Then, he went forward as Ms. Dinah watched him go off.

Chicken Little walked through cautiously, looking around all the other kids that didn't even seem to notice him there. He walked by a group of a little bunny, a mutt puppy, a leopard cub, and a donkey filly throwing around a red ball to each other.

The leopard cub, who apparently had a very good arm, threw the ball to the mutt puppy. Seeing it was coming too fast, the puppy gasped and ducked as the ball flew over his head. It rebounded off the wall and the four players stared up as it shot out into the air.

The ball went flying through the air right towards Chicken Little. He smiled and gasped. This was his chance to show the other kids what he could do, despite how small he was.

"I got it, I got it!" He went running out to try and catch it. He ran as fast as he could, keeping his eye on the ball as it flew towards him. But, he wasn't watching where he was going.

He collided smack-dab into a form bigger than him. He fell back to the ground on his tail. With his glasses only halfway on his face, he sat up. He pushed his glasses back on and looked up.

The figure that he had run into was a fox kit with reddish-brown hair in a braid, a little yellow shirt, and blue shorts. With her stood a white gosling wearing a small purple dress. The fox kit had the big, red ball Chicken Little had been playing with in her paws. Both the kit and the gosling stared down at him and blinked.

"…Um…" Chicken Little finally spoke up. "I was playing with that. C-Can I have it back…?" He paused, knowing he was forgetting something, "…please?"

"Oh, sure!" the fox kit smiled and held out the ball to him. He smiled and reached up to take it. But the kit suddenly pulled it up, holding it high in the air.

"Hey!" Chicken Little exclaimed. "Give it back!" he jumped up and tried to grab it. The fox kit gloated as she continued to hold it just barely out of the little chick's reach. Both she and the gosling watched, amused as he jumped up and struggled to reach it again and again.

Finally, Chicken Little stopped jumping and glared at them. "Stop it, guys!" he argued. "I had it first! Lemme have it!"

"Okay!" the fox kit smiled and threw it at the school building's brick wall. Chicken Little turned to follow it, but before he could go anywhere, it ricocheted right off the wall and back into the kit's paws. "Too slow!" she grinned, to which the gosling laughed in honks.

Even for his very young age and very small size, Chicken Little was a determined and stubborn little guy. Frustrated, he ran towards the kit to take a running leap for the ball, but the kit stuck out her paw and held him back by the forehead as he came. He gritted his teeth and struggled against her, but his efforts were futile.

"You want it?' the kit asked. "Take it." She tossed it right into him, and he fell back to the ground again. The ball bounced off and Chicken Little looked up at the two bullies as they came towards him. Soon they had the poor little chicken with his back against the building's brick wall. He looked up at their looming figures, terrified.

"Hey, Foxy!" he suddenly heard a voice yell. He looked over and saw a little girl duckling his age standing behind the fox kit. She wasn't what a lot of people would've called attractive or even normal-looking. She wore a little pink shirt and her hair was up in two small pigtails. The thing that Chicken Little noticed most about her though was the way she was standing confidently and fearlessly with her hands in fists at her side. "Why don't ya pick on somebody your own size?" she glared sharply at Foxy Loxy.

"Aww, what are you gonna do?" Foxy turned towards her and said sarcastically. "Huh, _Ugly Duckling_?"

As a reply, the spunky little duckling stuck her tongue out at her.

"Get her, Goosey!" Foxy grinned at her sidekick.

The gosling honked in acknowledgment and ran towards her victim. The brave little duckling glared and attempted to try and put up a fight. Foxy tossed the ball back over her shoulder and followed after her goose friend. As she did, she stuck out her paw and shoved Chicken Little onto the ground.

The little chick landed on his tail with a grunt and looked up. Seeing that things were about to get mean, he scrambled to his feet and began to scurry off. But before he got very far, he stopped. He heard Foxy and Goosey laughing.

He looked back over to where the bullies were teasing the poor duckling. Foxy had her in a weird hold and Goosey was yanking at one of her pigtails. "Ow!" yelled the duckling, struggling against them and trying to fight back. "Ow, ow, let go!"

Chicken Little knew that he had to help…somehow. He looked around quickly until his eyes rested on the ball he had been playing with. It was just about as big as him, which made it hard for him to hold.

Once that Foxy plucked one of her feathers from her tail, the duckling finally got tired of the bullies and spun around, taking a blind swing at Foxy. Goosey stuck out her foot and the duckling fell to the ground on her stomach with a grunt. After a second, she gasped and rolled onto her back, looking up at Foxy and Goosey hovering over her.

Just then, Foxy felt something bump her in the back. She blinked and glanced over her shoulder.

Chicken Little had stumbled forward when he had thrown the ball at the fox, or rather forced it from his hands in her general direction. It hadn't been a great throw, but it had been spirited. The young chick pushed his glasses back up on his beak and got to his feet. "Leave her alone!" he demanded and drew himself up to try and look bigger and scarier (the result was that he drew himself up a full ten inches!).

The duckling blinked. Never in her life had she seen a more plucky kid her age.

Foxy and Goosey looked from Chicken Little to each other. They smirked deviously.

The duckling gasped. She knew those looks from anywhere and they were not good. She looked over at Chicken Little and scrambled to her feet. She bolted off, snatching his hand into hers. "Run!" she yelled. They both raced off across the playground as fast as they could.

"Get 'em!" Foxy yelled, and she and Goosey chased after them.

For Chicken Little and the duckling, the playground was a dang obstacle course. The hardest part was going past the swings, and both of them nearly got a couple of kicks to the head.

Once they got past the swings, they looked at each other. "Split up!" the duckling yelled over to Chicken Little. The two youngsters quickly turned and darted in opposite directions.

Foxy and Goosey skidded to a quick halt when they saw them split up. They looked from one to the other. "You go after the round-headed kid!" Foxy finally told her sidekick.

Goosey nodded and the two bullies darted after their assigned victims.

The duckling weaved through obstacles and ran around the yard until she lost her pursuer. Looking around frantically, she ran over to the playset and quickly tried to climb up the metal pole on the side.

Foxy came running in and looked around quickly, having lost all visual of her prey. Her eyes switched back and forth as she searched around. Finally, she gave a pout and leaned her shoulder against the metal pole, not thinking for one moment to look up, where the duckling was holding on to the pole with herself wrapped around it and watching Foxy from right above her.

But being the smart little duck she was, she kept quiet and didn't move a muscle. But what the heck was she supposed to do now?

Chicken Little yelled as he ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, with Goosey right behind him. Thinking quickly, the little chicken clambered onto the nearest playset he could find and started climbing for life with Goosey right behind him.

The duckling continued to hang onto the pole as much as she could. Her hands were getting too tired and Foxy hadn't moved. She desperately tried to keep from losing her grip and falling, but suddenly, her hands slipped.

Both girls screamed as she came down right on top of Foxy and they collided right into the dirt. "Hey!" Foxy yelled.

Abby gasped and scrambled to her feet, this time scaling up the pole and leaping onto the playset in record time

She ran up to the top and came to a quick halt right at the top of the slide. She looked back and gasped as Chicken Little suddenly raced up right behind her, not looking where he was going.

Chicken Little tried to stop in time, but collided right into her. Both youngsters tripped forward with a collective yelp of surprise as they took a speedy and unexpected ride down the long slide. At the bottom, Abby tumbled into the dirt on her stomach, and Chicken Little came right behind her, tumbling backwards down the slide and landed on top of her. His tail feathers barely touched her bill. She sneezed.

At the sound of the sneeze, Foxy and Goosey spotted them. "There they are!" Foxy pointed.

"AAAHHH!" Chicken Little and the duckling scrambled to their feet and took off again.

"Get back here, ya big babies!" Foxy yelled as she and Goosey took pursuit again.

Chicken Little and the duckling raced back through the playground, trying to lose the bullies. "C'mon, hurry!" Chicken Little yelled back and he raced ahead.

He suddenly realized how close they were to a corner of the brick wall of the school and quickly stole away behind it, getting out of his pursuers' line of sight.

He waited for a moment. Then, as the duckling ran by, he lashed out and grabbed her hand, yanking her in with him. The two youngsters flattened themselves against the wall and got quiet as they watched Foxy and Goosey run by.

Once they had gone, they let out a sigh of relief in unison and unflattened themselves from the wall.

"That was…really, really close." the duckling sighed.

The two of them took a moment to catch their breaths. Then, the little duckling looked over at Chicken Little, remembering how he had stood up for her and practically rescued her - twice. She had _never_ had anyone do something like that for her.

She'd always seen in the movies how the handsome prince would always come to save the princess when she was in danger or in captivity of the bad guys. It was always so romantic. Now it seemed to her that she had found _her_ prince. The way he drew himself up after he threw the ball at Foxy made him look so handsome.

"…Um…thanks for saving me." she smiled sweetly. "You were really brave."

Chicken Little's eyebrows rose right up. He almost felt an invigorating chill down his spine. "Oh…" he grinned sheepishly. "Uh, thanks… Y-You were kinda brave too."

There was an awkward silence as the two of them just glanced at the ground.

"Um…hey," Chicken Little spoke up. "They didn't hurt you or nothin', did they? I-I saw them pulling your hair."

"No," the duckling replied. "I-I'm okay."

"So what was their problem anyway?"

"I don't know… They always tell me I'm ugly…" she glanced at the ground. "Well, everybody does…"

"I get picked on, too. But my dad says it's 'cause their heads come to a point…whatever that means." Chicken Little stepped forward and picked up the ball they had been playing around with before they were chased. "Besides, _I_ don't think you're ugly." he said as he offered her the ball. "I think you're kinda cool."

The little duckling looked at him and smiled after a moment. "…My name's Abby."

"I'm Chicken Little." he smiled back.

Abby giggled and took the ball from him. "You're kinda weird, Chicken Little…but I like you."

They looked over when they heard Ms. Dinah calling them to come inside. Almost all of the other kids were already in the classroom.

Chicken Little looked at Abby and smiled. "C'mon, Abby." he said and grabbed her hand. Abby smiled as the two youngsters ran across the yard back to their teacher.

Neither of them could've been happier. For the first time ever, they both had a friend.


	3. A Couple More Additons

_Chapter 3: A Couple More Additions_

All of the kids started to sit down on the floor around Ms. Dinah inside the classroom.

"Coward." Foxy stuck her tongue out at Abby, to which she replied by sticking out her tongue as well.

"Okay, guys." Ms. Dinah smiled and patiently quieted the class down. "Now, before we get started today, we have a new classmate joining us today." She looked at Chicken Little and nodded to him with a gentle smile, motioning for him to come up. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Although hesitant and a bit shy, Chicken Little got to his feet and slowly walked up to his teacher's side. He turned and looked at the rest of the class sitting on the floor. "…Ummm…hi." he waved a little. "I'm…Chicken Little?"

"_Whoo-hoo_!!" Abby jumped to her feet, smiling and applauding for her friend.

He smiled back a bit when he saw her.

After a moment, her clapping slowed and she looked around at everybody else just sitting there and staring at her in surprise of her sudden outburst. Abby blushed, slightly embarrassed, and finally sat back down on the ground.

Chicken Little was discouraged by his quiet welcome. But then, somebody else in the room backed Abby up. Chicken Little looked up and saw a perky, little fish sitting beside Abby with big, black, sparkling eyes wearing a diver's helmet filled with water. He bubbled happily with a smile at Chicken Little, jumping up from the floor and clapping his fins vigorously. Chicken Little smiled back. Maybe his mom had been right. Maybe since he had found friends, school would be actually kinda fun.

Ms. Dinah smiled. "Okay, why don't you go over and sit with Abby and Fish there, huh?"

Chicken Little smiled and hurried over. Abby scooted over and allowed him to sit in between her and Fish.

He and Fish looked at each other. In a silent exchange of greetings, Chicken Little smiled and stuck out his hand palm-up. Fish smiled and slapped it. Then, in the little-kid fashion, he suddenly hugged the random kid that was Chicken Little. He liked him already.

A little while later, all the kids were doing activities around the classroom. Fish and Chicken Little were hanging around the block center.

Chicken Little carefully put the last block on his tower. "Ah-ha." He smiled and leaned back to look at his creation. "Hey, Fish, check it out!" he looked over at his new friend, but then suddenly shook his head in a double take. Fish had been busy with a tower of his own. "Whoa." was all Chicken Little said as he stared up at the block tower that was almost three times his height. He smiled over at Fish. "Hey, you're…good!"

Fish smiled and blubbed what Chicken Little guessed to be a "Thank you."

"Hey, cool!" Abby smiled. "You're like one of those arky-ki-tecs!"

Chicken Little blinked. Abby herself had been building as well, they just hadn't noticed her there. "Hey," he said to her. "Why're ya over here?"

"Huh?" Abby looked at him.

"Shouldn't ya be like, playing dress-up or something?"

Abby blinked. "…Why?"

"…'Cause you're a girl…?" Chicken Little reasoned, scratching his head in confusion.

"So…?" Abby shrugged. "I wanna be over here. I like blocks n' stuff."

Chicken Little didn't say anything. He cocked his head, more confused than ever. Blocks and trucks weren't girl things…so why in the heck was Abby playing with them?

By the time lunch came around, the unlikely friends had learned a lot about each other. They sat beside each other at the table.

As perky as ever, Fish jumped onto the bench beside Abby. He made a sound like he was clearing his throat and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Abby looked at him. "What is it?"

Fish reached into his bag and pulled out a little tin of fish food. He set it on the table and pointed at it. "_Blub-blub!_" he told Abby.

Absolutely confused, Abby blinked and stared at him.

Fish finally used his fins to communicate with her. He pointed to Abby, then down at the fish food tin, and then made a motion towards his mouth.

"…Oh!" Abby finally got the message. "You want me to feed you?"

"_Blub!_" Fish smiled and nodded. He reached up and popped open the lid of his helmet.

Abby did her best at feeding him, but, being the age she was, she was a little clueless on just how much (or in this case how little) to put in. She was yet to see the humorous "effect" it had on her little fish friend.

"I was kinda scared when I first got here, too." she told Chicken Little, as they had been talking. "But my daddy told me everything would be okay when I found a friend."

"That's what my mom told me, too." Chicken Little put in. "She was wrong, though. Wait 'til I tell her I didn't just get one friend, but I got two instead." He smiled. "I guess I'm lucky or something."

"_BUUURRRRRPPP!!!_" Fish's helmet rattled as he suddenly let out a huge burp. He quickly put a fin over the glass where his mouth was and blinked in surprise of himself. He looked over at his two friends with wide eyes. So _that's_ why his mom had warned him not to eat too much...

Abby and Chicken Little stared at him in shock. They looked at each other. Then, all three of them burst out laughing, almost falling off of the bench.

Once they began to settle down again after a moment, Chicken Little looked around at all the other tables and the kids at them. He noticed one table that had no one sitting at it. But he then saw something pink very slowly poke out from under its tablecloth and cautiously look around. It looked like a little…piglet.

At the sight of the young chicken watching him, the timid little stranger gasped and ducked his head quickly back under the table.

Chicken Little blinked and got up from his seat, heading towards the abandoned table.

Confused, Abby and Fish watched him suddenly go off. They looked at each other, and then followed to find out what it was he was after. As Chicken Little approached the table, he got down on his hands and knees and stuck his head underneath the low tablecloth. Under the table, he saw the little piglet staring at him with wide eyes, wearing a blue coat and cap. "Hi." the little chicken smiled. "What's your name?"

"…I-I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." the piglet told him.

"I'm not a stranger, I'm Chicken Little. So now that I told you my name, you're supposed to tell me yours!" he smiled.

The little piglet was quiet for a moment. "…Runt." he finally said, but he didn't come out from under the table.

"Whatcha doin' down here?" Chicken Little asked curiously.

"My big brother told me to hide down here."

"Oh… Will you come out and meet my friends, Runt?"

Runt shook his head vigorously.

"Well…that's okay." Chicken Little said. "They can come down to meet you." He called back over his shoulder. "C'mon, guys!"

Just then, Abby and Fish stuck their heads under the tablecloth at his sides.

"Guys, this is Runt."

"Hey, Runt." Abby smiled. "I'm Abby. And that's Fish."

"_Blub_!" Fish smiled and waved.

"Why's he hiding under here?" Abby asked. "Is Foxy after him, too?"

"He's lying down low here 'cause he's scared and 'cause his big brother told him to."

"He told him to lie under a table?"

"I dunno."

"I'm not scared!" Runt defended. "I'm…sensitive!"

As Ms. Dinah walked by, she looked down and noticed the three tails of Abby, Fish, and Chicken Little all poking out from under the tablecloth. She blinked.

Under the table, Runt was explaining why he was supposed to hide under the table, in the words that his brother had put it.

"He says that I'd scare everybody, and he's right because I have an unusually high center of gravity for a kid my age! And he says that I'm a disgrace to the genus of swine."

The three friends just stared at him, totally lost by his words. Abby leaned towards Chicken Little. "What's a 'swine'?" she whispered, to which the young chick just shrugged.

"Abby? Fish? Chicken Little?" they heard Ms. Dinah called.

The three youngsters pulled their heads back far enough to look back and notice their teacher.

"What in the world are you three doing down there?" she smiled with her paws on her hips.

"We're tryin' to get Runt out from under the table." Chicken Little explained simply.

"Oh, okay…" a glimmer of realization came onto Ms. Dinah's face. This wasn't the first time this had happened…but she knew the antidote for it. "Well, you tell Runt that he needs to come out and eat his lunch."

"Okay!" Chicken Little smiled as she turned to walk away. He poked his head back under the table. "Hey, Runt? Ms. Dinah said you need to come out to have lunch." He looked at Abby. "Abby and I know how to deal with Foxy, so we'll protect you."

"Yeah, you can sit with us!" Abby suggested.

Runt stared at them, then at the floor. "…'Kay…I guess so…"

His three visitors smiled. Abby and Chicken Little reached out and grabbed one of his arms and Fish grabbed the other. They all pulled their new friend out the rest of the way from under the table. Abby ran in front of him and struggled to push him up to his feet. Runt helped out a little by standing up on his own. Chicken Little got behind him and pushed him forward. Abby and Fish looked at each other, smiled in amusement, and laughed as they ran ahead of their friends. "C'mon, hurry!" Abby called back.

"Hey, wait!" Chicken Little shouted, and he and Runt chased after them.


End file.
